Muscular arms provide immediate visual evidence that you spend a lot of time in the gym and thus care about your body and how it looks. They can also help you effectively perform practical tasks, either at home or work, involving heavy manual labor such as lifting heavy objects. Your major arm muscles are those that function to flex and extend your arm at your elbow--your biceps and triceps--and your forearm muscles that flex and extend your hand at your wrist. You can perform numerous exercises to build these muscles.
Standing Dumbbell Curls
Standing dumbbell curls build your biceps muscles on the front of your upper arms. To perform the exercise, hold dumbbells at your sides with your palms facing your body. Then flex your arms to move the weights toward your shoulders; turn your palms to face your shoulders as you lift the weights. Once you have fully flexed your arms, slowly lower the dumbbells back to your sides and repeat.
Concentration Curls
Concentration curls are similar to standing dumbbell curls but are performed from a seated position with only one arm at a time. To prepare for concentration curls, first sit with your legs spread apart. Then lean forward and place one of your elbows on your inner thigh of the same leg; let your forearm hang between your legs while holding a dumbbell in your hand. To perform the exercise, while keeping your elbow anchored to your leg, repeatedly flex and extend your arm. Repeat the exercise with your opposite arm.
Bench Dips
Bench dips build and strengthen your triceps muscles on the posterior (back) side of your upper arm by using your body weight for resistance. To prepare for the exercise, position two flat benches slightly farther apart than the length of your legs. Then, place your palms shoulder-width apart on one bench with your fingers directed forward and your heels on the other bench. To perform the exercise, repeatedly raise and lower your body by extending and flexing your arms. During the downward phase, for safety purposes, do not allow your arms to bend more than 90 degrees.
Triceps Pushdown
As its name suggests, the triceps pushdown exercise is a popular exercise for your triceps muscles. It is performed on a pulldown machine. To do the exercise, first hold the overhead bar on the machine no wider than shoulder width. Next, lower the bar so your hands are in front of your shoulders. Then, while keeping your elbows next to your body, press the bar downward until your arms are fully extended. Finally, slowly allow the bar back up to the starting position and repeat.
Wrist Curls
Wrist curls exercise the forearm muscles that flex your hands toward your biceps. To perform wrist curls, sit down, lean forward and rest your forearms on your legs so your hands hang over your knees. Hold a barbell or dumbbells in your hands with your palms facing upward. Then repeatedly flex and extend your hands for as many repetitions as desired.
Wrist Extensions
Wrist extensions strengthen the forearm muscles that extend your hands at your wrist joints (opposite of wrist curls). They are performed exactly like wrist curls, but with your palms facing downward to begin the exercise rather than upward.
References
- "Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning Second Edition"; Thomas R. Baechle and Roger W. Earle; 2000
- Exercises for Arms: Biceps Training
- American Council on Exercise: Shoulders and Arms Workout
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